Master the art of judging people: A guide for better interviews and more

On the latest season of Visiting Experts, author Richard Davis joins host Brett Hendrie to talk about his new book Good Judgement. Richard offers leaders a framework for how to judge people more effectively and breaks down why we should discount emotional intelligence in favour of personality. Give it a listen now!

Three takeaways

1. When faced with a decision about a person - say you're selecting someone to take lead of a new project, trying to hire for a crucial role, or even just deciding if you want to have an on-going relationship - don't look for emotional intelligence. Instead, you should look at whether their personality makes them a good fit for the role. As Davis says, emotions are fleeting, but personality is static. "While it's helpful for me to understand, for example, if you are angry, it's much more powerful for me to understand that you're an angry person," he says.
2. Perceptivity is a talent you can develop. And judging others' personalities is something you can hone. So how do you do it? Richard has a five-box framework that asks you to evaluate others on their intelligence, sociability, emotionality, drive and diligence.
3. And to really understand people's personalities, you need to let them do the talking. He has some fantastic questions you can ask in almost any situation to really get a better read on people. (How are you, dispositionally, like your parents? Why do you have certain friends, and what's a turnoff in others?)